Carrigan sets sights on Athens

Queensland cyclist Sara Carrigan has been re-living some fond memories in recent days, helped by the fact that the snapshot of her thrilling triumph over Katie Mactier in last year's Geelong round of the World Cup is plastered over the front of this year's cup race guide.

Carrigan is confident she has had a good training base for today's opening race of the World Cup series - she was hit by a car in early January, and admitted to feeling disappointed with her efforts in last week's Geelong Women's Tour - which offers valuable road points for Australian riders seeking to cement their Athens claims.

Her narrow victory over Mactier last year - Mactier celebrated too soon, allowing Carrigan to zip past and steal the win - was part of a strong first half of the season.

"When I saw the front cover of the race manual that had the photo of me winning, it brought a smile to my face," Carrigan said. "I guess it just came down to (the fact that) the race isn't over until you've crossed the line and I timed it, I suppose, to that second. We're very lucky that Geelong are putting on the opening round of the World Cup. My year went from strength to strength after winning that last year."

Today, she will contest the 119-kilometre race with her Queensland Academy of Sport teammates, rather than the professional Bik-Powerplate team, which has fallen apart. The Australian Institute of Sport has offered her a place in its road squad this year to allow her to keep racing in Europe before the Olympics.

"There's a few World Cups before Athens, so I'm going to be racing in most of those . . . and I'd like to win one of those this year, if not the one on Sunday . . . The Olympics are the main goal and I want to make sure I'm prepared to be the best I can be for that."